Improvement in hinges



W. S. MAINS. Hinge.

No. 204,061. Ptemed May 21,1878..

N. PEERS. FHOTO UTNOGRAPHEE WASHINGTON, D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIcE.

WOODBURY S. MAINS, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

IMPROVEMENT IN HINGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 204,061, dated May 21,1878 application filed October 16, 1877.

To all whom 'it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WOODBURY S. MAINS, of Portland, of the county ofCumberland, of the State of Maine, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Hinges; and do hereby declare the same to be described inthe following specification and represented in the accompanyingdrawings, of which- Figure 1 is a side elevation; Fig. 2, an edge viewof a hinge containing my improvement. Fig. 3 is a View of it showing oneleaf turned up at a right angle to the other. Figs. 4 and 5 are views ofthe two leaves as they appear before being bent for reception of thejointpin, and Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section taken so as to show oneof the oiling-holes arranged as hereinafter explained.

My invention relates more particularly to trap -door hinges as used onstable or other doors, although it is applicable to various otherhinges.

Such trap-door hinges, while in use, are very liable to become sooxidated in their joints as to cause the pins and tubular parts thereofto strongly adhere to each other, in which case, on an attempt beingmade to open or raise the trap-door, it frequently happens that thehinge portion attached to the door becomes broken from its tubular partof the joint, thereby rendering the hinge useless. Such hinges aregenerally made of plate-iron or metal, the part of each leaf thatencompasses the joint-pin being bent around so as to form a cylindricaltube to receive such pin.

In constructing a hinge in accordance with my invention, that leaf of itwhich is to revolve on the joint-phil provide with 011e or more notchesin the end of its joint portion, in order that when such joint portionis bent around there may be formed in it, at or in the angle of itsjunction with the iiat part of the leaf, one or more holes or passages,through which oil may be passed to effect lubrication of thejoint-surfaces in contact, all as hereinafter more fully described andclaimed.

By the arrangement of the oiling passage or passages so as to open intoor lead from the joint angle, not only can the lubrication of the hingebe effected without any necessity of pouring the oil directly into thepassage or passages, but when the trap-door is horizontal or down thereis less chance of dust, water, or extraneous matters falling or gettinginto the said passage or passages, and thence into the joint, than therewould be were they (the said oiling passage or passages) at the top ofthe joint.

To effect oiling of the joint it is only necessary to raise thetrap-door to an angle of about forty-five degrees, and next pour the oilinto the space or angle between the joint and flat portions of theleaf.4 Such space or angle will constitute a trough or gutter to receivethe oil and convey it to and into the oiling hole or holes.

In the drawings, A and B are the two leaves of the hinge, a al being thefront portions of one and b that of the other, the joint-pin being shownat C. The said pin is usually stationary, or does not revolve in thejoint portions a a; but the front portion b, when the hinge is in use,turns or is to turn upon the pin and between the portions a a.

In Fig. 4 the joint portion b of the movable leafAis shown as fiat, andprovided at its free end with two semicircular notches, c c, which, whenthe part b is bent. around so that such end shall abut against the .flatpart d of the leaf, become arranged next to such flat part and in theangular space e existing between it and the bent-joint part b.

By my arrangement of the oiling passage or passages in respect to theangular space between the joint and iiat portions of the hinge, oil, onbeing poured into such space when the trap-door is inclined, will notonly flow into the said passage or passagesbut readily nd its Waybetween those ends of the joint-tubes which may be next adjacent to andliable to rub against each other while the trap-door may-be in movement.

I claim as my invention- As an improved article of manufacture, a hingeconstructed as described, having one or more oiling holes or notches, c,arranged in one of its joint-tubes b, so as to lead out of the angularspace formed between such jointtube and the flat portion of the leafthereof, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

WOODBURY S. MAINS. f

Witnesses:

R. H. EDDY, JOHN R. SNOW.

